Shrink film cradle

ABSTRACT

A cradle for supporting a plurality of articles such that the cradle and articles may be enclosed in a shrink film to form a package.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,817,373 Samsing June 18, 1974 SHRINKFILM CRADLE 2,792,982 5/1957 Malmgren 229/42 2,946,500 7/1960 11 1 1....229/42 [75] Inventor: Rolf A. Samsmg, Bramtree, Mass. 3,138,283 6/1964P555233 229/42 X I 3,478,947 1 1/1969 Schillinger 229/15 [73] AsslgneeCompany 805m 3,493,450 3/1970 Stevens 206/65 s F 72 [22] fled June 19Primary Examiner-William I. Price APPL NO-I 262,450 AssistantExaminerStephen Marcus Attorney, Agent, or FirmRichard A. Wise; OisteinJ. [52 us. c1 206/432, 206/139, 211/73, Bram; Foster 229/15, 229/42 [51]Int. Cl B65d 75/06 [58] Field Of Search..... 229/42, 15; 206/65 s, 65 c;[571 ABSTRACT References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,584,967 2/1952Watson et al 229/42 A cradle for supporting a plurality of articles suchthat the cradle and articles may be enclosed in a shrink film to form apackage.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures SHRINK FILM CRADLE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to packageconstruction wherein a plurality of articles are held in a predeterminedarrangement by a filmlike means, and more particularly to a cradle forsupporting the articles.

2. Description of the Prior Art It has become popular to packageconsumer goods in convenient-sized containers, such as cans, in clustersof four, six, or eight or more. Beverages and aerosol products are buttwo among many types of articles sold in SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It istherefore an object of the invention to provide a new cradle for suchpackages, the cradle being of such design as to require a minimum ofmaterial, virtually eliminate waste, and simplify manufacturing of thecradle and construction of the'entire package.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, afeature of the present invention is the provision of a cradle membercomprising an elongated rectangularly-shaped member, first and secondportions thereof disposed at either end thereof being essentiallyU-shaped, each defined in part by a U- shaped slot, the two portionsbeing adapted to be disposed substantially normal to a floor portion.When normal to the floor portion, the first and second portions areparallel and opposed to each other and form first and second wallsupstanding from the floor portion, each wall comprising a top portionwhich is transverse to said member is supported by two leg portionsjoined to the floor portion.

The above and other features of the invention, including various noveldetails of construction and combinations of parts, will now be moreparticularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings andpointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particulardevice embodying the invention is shown by way of illustration only andnot as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features ofthis invention may be employed in various and numerous embodimentswithout departing from the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Reference is made to the accompanyingdrawings in which is shown an illustrative embodiment of the inventionfrom which its novel features and advantages will be apparent.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank from which is made one form of cradleillustrative of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the blank of FIG. 1 beingtransformed into a cradle;

FIG. 3 shows the completedcradle; and

FIG. 4 illustrates the cradle in use as part of a shrink film packagefor a plurality of consumer articles.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. I, it will beseen that the cradle is made from' an elongated rectangularly-shapedmember 2. The member 2 is preferably of paperboard and includes a firstportion 4 disposed at one end of the member 2. The first portion 4 isessentially U-shaped and is defined in part by a first U-shaped slot 6in the member 2. The portion 4 is adapted to be bent (FIG. 2) along afold line 8 to a position substantially normal to a floor portion 10 ofthe member 2 (FIG. 3).

The member 2 further includes a second portion 12 (FIG. 1) at the otherend of the member 2. The second portion 12 is also essentially U-shapedand is defined in part by a second U-shaped slot 14 in the member 2. Theportion 12 is adapted to be bent (FIG. 2) along a fold line 16 to aposition substantially normal to the floor portion 10 (FIG. 3).

Referring to FIG. 3, it will be seen that when the first and secondportions 4, 12 are bent so as to be substantially normal to the floorportion 10, the portions 4, 12 are substantially parallel to each otherand are in opposed positions. The first portion 4 thereby forms a wall20 upstanding from the floor portion 10 and comprising a top portion 22disposed transversely of the member 2 and supported by two leg portions24, 26

joined to the floor portion 10. In like manner, the sec- 0nd portion 12thereby forms a wall 30 upstanding from the floor portion 10 andcomprising a top portion 32 disposed transversely of the member 2 andsupported by two leg portions 34, 36 joined to the floor portion 10.

Thus, there is provided a unitary cradle member having a floor on whichmay rest a plurality of articles and two upstanding walls forming threezones on the working surface of the floor and acting as buffers betweenthose zones. Material required is held to a minimum and waste isvirtually eliminated inasmuch as nothing is cut out and discarded exceptfor the cutting of the slots 6, 14. Only two simple folding movementsare required to place the cradle in condition for receiving articles,thus manufacturing is relatively non-complex.

In operation, the cradle is cut and folded to the position shown in FIG.3, whereupon the cradle receives a plurality of articles A. The articlesand cradle are then exposed to a shrink film covering process by which afilm F is disposed about the cradle and articles, as shown in FIG. 4, tocomplete the package.

It is to be understood that the present invention is by no means limitedto the particlar construction herein disclosed and/or shown in thedrawings, but also comprises any modifications or equivalents within thescope of the disclosure. For example, if desired, a separate additionaldivider (not shown) may be placed lengthwise on the cradle, ortransverse to the walls 20, 30 to provide six zones instead of threeand, further, provide a separate compartment for each article.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A package comprising:

3 4 a. a cradle for supporting a plurality of rows of artiin each outerrow overhangs an edge of said outer cles, said cradle having a floorportion and a pair floor portion, and of upstanding Wall Portions, d.wrapping means substantially surrounding said b. said floor portionincluding a central portion between said wall portions supporting acentral row 5 containing at least one article thereon,

c. said floor portion further including a pair of outer floor portionsextending outwardly from said wall portions providing a pair of outerrows supporting I at least one article each thereon, said outer floor APackage as defined 2 where!" Stock portions being narrower than saidcentral portion material is p p wherein at least a portion of the atleast one article cradle and the articles thereon. 2. A package asdefined in claim 1 wherein said wall portions are U-shaped and saidfloor and wall portions are integrally formed from a single piece ofstock mate-

1. A package comprising: a. a cradle for supporting a plurality of rows of articles, said cradle having a floor portion and a pair of upstanding wall portions, b. said floor portion including a central portion between said wall portions supporting a central row containing at least one article thereon, c. said floor portion further including a pair of outer floor portions extending outwardly from said wall portions providing a pair of outer rows supporting at least one article each thereon, said outer floor portions being narrower than said central portion wherein at least a portion of the at least one article in each outer row overhangs an edge of said outer floor portion, and d. wrapping means substantially surrounding said cradle and the articles thereon.
 2. A package as defined in claim 1 wherein said wall portions are U-shaped and said floor and wall portions are integrally formed from a single piece of stock material.
 3. A package as defined in claim 2 wherein said stock material is paperboard. 